Dave Hume Pool Katikati Set for Major Upgrades Ahead of 2025/26 Season

Katikati's Dave Hume Pool is set to reopen for the 2025/2026 summer season with a longer swim season, improved accessibility and expanded capacity for swimming lessons. The main 33.3-metre pool will be reconfigured using a bulkhead to create a 25-metre lap pool and a new 7-metre learn-to-swim pool, which will be kept at a warmer temperature. The existing separate learn-to-swim pool will also be upgraded to meet current safety and water quality standards.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council reserves and facilities manager Peter Watson said learn-to-swim programmes are already at capacity each year, and the additional space will allow more tamariki to develop essential water safety skills. A new disability hoist will also be added to the main pool to improve accessibility.

Other improvements include PVC pool relining, a new sand filtration system, heating and insulation upgrades in the changing rooms and reception, new entrance and changing room doors, new pool covers and upgraded CCTV cameras. The changes will allow the facility to operate from September through to the end of May each year, extending the previous swim season.

The improvements are being funded through existing council budgets from the 2023/2024 financial year and through the Dave Hume Pool Trust, which will fundraise to cover 30 percent of the upgrade work. The roof enclosure project — which had been included in the 2021–2031 Long Term Plan — was set aside in October 2024 due to escalating costs, with council instead prioritising the bulkhead, pool upgrades and new liner system.

Originally published in Katikati News (Sun Media).